Tibhar zodiac Libra ZAC Review

[Syg4d]

Hi, I wanted to share my quick review of this recent blade.

Composition: Limba - ayous - ZAC - Ayous - ZAC - ayous - limba.
ZAC is a mix of Arylate, Zylon, and Carbon
Thickness: 6.0mm
Blade face: 158cm x 152cm
Design and feel
Look is oviously subjective. For my taste, I like the design: simple, neutral, not too flashy, no obnoxious colors...
Feel wise, the handle is near perfect for me except for 1 thing that I will talk about later. I have average size hand and it's neither big nor small, pretty similar to my Fan zhendong ALC. Fh - Bh transition is really excellent, among the best.
Some people stated that it feels head heavy, well not my copy. Mine (87 gram) definitely feels light, airy, balanced. Quite a surprise actually given the 158x152 head size. My Xiom Tmxi Pro (159x152) feels more head heavy.
There is very little vibration, medium to hard ball contact feels pretty numb. So if you're looking for the best ball feel, I would look elsewhere. This blade has similar composition to my Xiom Tmxi Pro (also inner and triple weaved carbon), but the Tmxi Pro feels softer in comparison and holds the ball slightly longer even though they have the exact same ply thickness with 2 relatively thick outer plies and thinner core ply. My Andro VCI (also inner carbon) for example has thinner top 2 plies and thicker core ply.

Gameplay
My copy is 87g, Fh: yinhe Jupiter 3 blue sponge (similar to H3 neo provincial), Bh: Palio Blitz.
This blade has a long and flat ball arc. If i have to describe the blade in 1 word it would be: Balanced. Everything feels balanced. I think the marketing materials from tibhar is quite accurate. Speed wise, it feels fast for an inner carbon blade, closer to an outer carbon. Serve and receive with my combo is great, I can execute any kind of serves effectively, no trouble with returns either. Serving is one of my strengths and I'm happy with this combo. With the flatter ball arc, blocking and control in general is excellent. If you're familiar with outer alc carbon and koto composition from butterfly, this has similar control with softer feel and slightly longer ball holding time. The blade has a linear response and very slight flex, again my tmxi pro is quite flexier. With my rubbers, both long and short pushes are easy. The tackiness from the rubber helps. Looping and counter looping feels easy and natural. Smashing is ok, not a problem but also not as good as thicker blades obviously. I'm having really difficult time describing this blade and coming up with negatives in terms of gameplay because I honestly don't feel like there is any, it does everything so well.

Now the only 1 negative thing I have with this blade has to do with the handle design: while it is perfect in terms of size and shape, honestly the best I have ever tried, even better than viscaria when transitioning fh-bh!!! BUT the green plastic lens in the back sticks out a little and you can kinda feel it in your palm. During gameplay I usually forget about it. But it is a little annoying that they use a design that interferes with handle comfort.

So if you can live with that, I think this blade is an excellent choice for the modern 2 wings game.

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

Wow, I haven't seen anyone using Blit'z in years.

I also have not heard anything about this blade before, the rectangular nameplate makes it appear quite similar to some Nittaku blades

 

[Syg4d]

Wow, I haven't seen anyone using Blit'z in years.

I also have not heard anything about this blade before, the rectangular nameplate makes it appear quite similar to some Nittaku blades

Haha yes I have only tried it recently and I actually quite like it on the Bh side, slightly less bouncy than the newer esn stuffs, lower throw, very stable. It's a little heavy though so I will probably try something else after this one wears out.

 

[timdm]

Thanks for your review.

Pretty remarkable that your TMXi feels softer than the zodiac, since I believe TMXi has 2x limba as outer plies.
To me, tmxi is the hardest inner carbon I've ever tried, much harder than 36,5, IF alc or zlc, treiber CI, ovtcharov alc, ... (these are all limba, ayous)

I'm struggling... 😉

 

[piligrim]

Is it similar to joola trinity?

 

[Syg4d]

Is it similar to joola trinity?

I tried Trinity briefly, didn't like its handle as much, while good in size its a little flatter compared to the zac and typical handle like viscaria. The handle also came loose on the copy I was using... so not sure about manufacturing quality there. The ZAC has a bigger head size so the trinity feels a little more compact but the ZAC still feels light, airy, quick in fh-bh transition, and the control is somehow really fantastic. Neither reach the power and spin of the w968 when you're in position and can unleash it, but more suitable for a controlled attacking/placement style. So yea they're more similar than different.

 

[Syg4d]

Thanks for your review.

Pretty remarkable that your TMXi feels softer than the zodiac, since I believe TMXi has 2x limba as outer plies.
To me, tmxi is the hardest inner carbon I've ever tried, much harder than 36,5, IF alc or zlc, treiber CI, ovtcharov alc, ... (these are all limba, ayous)

I'm struggling... 😉

Mine was the Tmxi Pro which is very different from the regular Tmxi, one is better for looping, one is better for hitting. The pro has thicker top 2 layers and thinner core and huge head size (160x152) so it feels much softer and flexier than the Tmxi.

 

[M.Hoang]

Mine was the Tmxi Pro which is very different from the regular Tmxi, one is better for looping, one is better for hitting. The pro has thicker top 2 layers and thinner core and huge head size (160x152) so it feels much softer and flexier than the Tmxi.

hello, can you compare ZAC with fan alc about speed and feeling and the head heavy?

 

[Syg4d]

hello, can you compare ZAC with fan alc about speed and feeling and the head

hello, can you compare ZAC with fan alc about speed and feeling and the head heavy?

Both are well balanced, not head heavy, between the two, fzd alc is slightly more nimble, airy. Speed is actually comparable, difference in feel is the typical difference between limba and koto, ZAC is slightly softer, more dwell time, FZD ALC is slightly more crisp, snappy. ZAC is easier to play, reliable, stable, blocks well, I'm more consitent with it than any other blade, FZD ALC I feel like you should really be on your game to get the most out of it.

 

[M.Hoang]

Both are well balanced, not head heavy, between the two, fzd alc is slightly more nimble, airy. Speed is actually comparable, difference in feel is the typical difference between limba and koto, ZAC is slightly softer, more dwell time, FZD ALC is slightly more crisp, snappy. ZAC is easier to play, reliable, stable, blocks well, I'm more consitent with it than any other blade, FZD ALC I feel like you should really be on your game to get the most out of it.

thank you very much, iam playing with harimoto super zlc, feeling very well with it excepted one thing is the heavy head of this blade, and iam finding another one to replace. do you have any different recomend blade?

 

[Syg4d]

thank you very much, iam playing with harimoto super zlc, feeling very well with it excepted one thing is the heavy head of this blade, and iam finding another one to replace. do you have any different recomend blade?

Try lighter rubbers, otherwise coming from hari szlc, the ZAC should feel quite familiar, very similar arc but with slightly softer, lighter, less substantial feel (I only hit w hari szlc briefly).

 

[andzejgolot]

I have tmxi, pro tmxi and super zlc harimoto and think about zac because tmxi and pro tmxi are good blades. Harimoto super zlc is similar to classic tmxi but faster